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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

By Anyssa Roberts
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Ed Crowley, Midway’s member on the Woodford County Economic
Development Authority and owner of a business with nine employees
downtown, is moving his company to Lexington.

The Midway City Council named Ron Layman of Midway to
succeed Crowley Monday evening. Layman has a background in finance as a loan
officer for Republic State Mortgage in Versailles.

Crowley is the CEO of Photizo Group, an international print
data service and consulting company that has been housed in the barnlike
building that houses Robin’s Nest Bakery on Gratz Street for several years
after starting out in Versailles.

Ed Crowley

Crowley said in an email that while Midway is a “unique
place to work, it is much easier to recruit staff for a firm like ours when the
firm is located in Lexington versus Midway or Versailles due to the shopping,
dining, and housing opportunities provided by Lexington.” He said most of his
employees live in Lexington so moving the company makes it an easier commute,
he said.

Crowley said he will continue to live in Versailles and farm in Woodford
County. He said he feels that someone with a business in Midway
will be better suited for the position. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said that was the
top criterion for his nomination of Layman.

Last year, Crowley was the only business person to publicly
object to Midway’s “fairness” ordinance, which bans discrimination in housing,
employment and public accommodations on the basis of sexual preference, gender
identity or familial status.

Crowley said in the email that he did not leave because of
the ordinance.

“While I still do not agree with it because I do not believe
there was an issue to begin with (it was driven by outside interests) and I
believe it will open business owners up to lawsuits, I believe the right
process was followed, and the passing of the ordinance was not the motivation
for our move.”

Vandergrift said after the meeting that he
does not think Crowley is leaving because of the ordinance, because Lexington
has one as well.

Council Member Libby Warfield, who voted against the ordinance, asked how many
jobs the company will be taking with it to Lexington. Vandergrift said that he
didn’t know, but they were “good paying jobs.”

Photizo Group employs nine people in Midway, Crowley said,
and has 35 employees internationally, according to the Photizo Group website.

“I hate to see him
go,” Vandergrift said. “He was a great business pillar of the community… but
we’ll keep bringing in new [jobs].”

Steam engine seeks a home

Vandegrift updated the council on the uncertain status of the RJ Corman
Railroad Group’s “Old Smokey” steam engine. He said he and the railroad are concerned that the engine and the caboose next to the bank lot won’t fit in the space without backfill and a retaining wall. The railroad is seeking more money from the state, which gave it a grant to put the engine in the Midway Historic District.

Vandergrift said having the engine downtown could be a great
attraction, but he said a “plan B” could be moving it to Walter Bradley Park, which is also in the district. He said he is meeting with RJ Corman
representatives to look at spaces in the park this week.

“RJ Corman Railroad Company really wants this train to be here,” Vandergrift said. “This place is where it should be. We’re Kentucky’s first railroad town. We don’t want to lose this to another city.”

Council Member Sara Hicks said the engine and caboose could
be a “great feature for the park,” and that she could envision a small railroad
museum there.

Emergency budget: Drew Chandler of the Woodford County Emergency Management
team presented the semi-annual emergency management update. The organization
has cut 30 percent of its budget, largely by converting all full-time positions
to part-time. The county and the two cities had a dispute last year about the emergency management budget.

The lack of full-time employees relieves the department of
paying health, life and dental insurance as well as workers’ compensation
insurance, saving $17,072.23. Chandler said after the meeting that the cuts can be
attributed to a reduction of state and federal money. He is one of four part-time employees operating the
service.

Property maintenance: Vandegrift updated the council on the status of a dilapidated log house on East Higgins Street. The owner has agreed to purchase wood to board up the windows and to move the trash and dirt from the premises.

The owner has until the end of the week to make the changes, Vandergrift said. This is the first time that the city has taken action to fix a property at the owner’s expense.

“The point that I relayed to them is that these are difficult situations, but the city can not send the message that when we send out letters that we are not going to follow up on them,” Vandergrift said. “And I think we made that clear this time.”

No primary elections: The council heard first reading of an ordinance to eliminate the need for primary elections for
city offices. State law requires primaries in
nonpartisan elections if there are twice as many candidates as seats to be
filled unless the city opts out of primaries. Midway has not held a primary since
1955.

According to city attorney Phil Moloney, the council had
voted on a similar ordinance in the past, but because it was not included in
the minutes, it needed to be re-enacted. The second reading and passage are scheduled for March 21.
If passed, the ordinance would take effect in 2018.

Surplus fire vehicles: The council dismissed a $100 bid for the city’s surplus fire
truck but accepted a $260 bid for the department’s surplus van. “Is that too much?” Council Member Bruce Southworth asked,
laughing with the others.

Warfield said she took the liberty of contacting Ronnie Day
of the Kentucky Fire Commission in Frankfort, who operates an email list of
fire stations in the state. Day may be able to send an advertisement for the
truck to interested buyers in the firefighting field, Warfield said.

“It’s no offense to the bid that’s on the table, but my main
concern is the fire truck be placed somewhere that it can really be used,”
Warfield said.

Cemetery security: Warfield brought up the issue of closing the cemetery gates.
She said her mother and sister had seen a car in the cemetery after dark. Not closing the gates at night leaves the cemetery
susceptible to trash and vandals, so the gates should be locked after dark, she
said.

Assistant Versailles Police Chief Mike Murray, who was in the audience,
said he would have patrol officers check the cemeteries after dark and escort
loiterers off of the grounds.

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News in and around the small but surprisingly interesting town of Midway, Ky., reported, written and photographed by students in community journalism classes in the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media, taught by Associate Extension Professor Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues,www.RuralJournalism.org.